The Thomas
Mantell incident began at 1.20pm. On the 7th. January, 1948. when the control
tower operators at Godman Field Army Air Force Base, Kentucky sighted a strange
unidentified airborne object hovering in the sky close to the base. Several
senior officers were summoned, and the base Operations and Intelligence Officer
were soon joined by the Commanding Officer, but none were able to identify the
slowly rotating object.

At the time a flight of four P-51 fighters were on a routine training flight
under the supervision of Flight Commander Captain Thomas Mantell. They were flying
towards Godman Field when at approximately 2.45pm, the control tower officer in
charge ordered them to investigate the strange object. Captain Mantell
acknowledged, but a short time later one of the pilots requested permission to
brake away as he was running low on fuel, leaving the three remaining aircraft
to head in the direction of the strange object.

The next message came from one of the three remaining pilots, who said he was
losing his bearings and was becoming fearful of becoming lost. He too was
granted permission to break away and return, but he would be accompanied by one
of the two remaining pilots, who was instructed to accompany his colleague to
guide him safely back to base. The only aircraft now in pursuit of the object
was that piloted by Captain Thomas Mantell.

At 15,000 feet Mantell contacted the control tower and stated that he had the
object in sight and was climbing to investigate. A short time later Mantell
reported that he was closing on the object but that was the last message
broadcast. Mantell’s aircraft crashed approximately 130 miles down range from
Godman Field.

The official Air Technical Information Command report on the crash stated that
they were of the opinion that Captain Mantell lost consciousness due to oxygen
starvation. The trimmed aircraft had continued to climb until increasing
altitude caused a sufficient loss of power for it to level out. The aircraft
then began to turn left due to torque and as the wing drooped, so did the nose,
until it was in a tight turning spiral. The uncontrolled descent resulted in
excessive speed causing the aircraft to disintegrate. It is believed that
Captain Mantell never regained consciousness. This was born out by the fact
that the canopy lock was still in place after the crash, discounting any
attempt to abandon the aircraft. They also stated that the UFO was in no way
responsible for the crash.